Easy Tequila Lime Chicken Kabobs -- Fired Up for the Next Generation

May 2021. I am 62 years old. DeAndre turns 11, showing athletic promise, youth football. This is one of the weeks that marks itself on the calendar of a life — not every week does, most weeks are the quiet kind, the working kind, the weeks that hold the world together without anyone noticing. But this week noticed itself. This week demanded attention. And I gave it, the way I give attention to everything that matters: fully, with both hands, with the understanding that attention is the rarest gift a man can give.

The family gathered around this moment the way smoke gathers around a shoulder — drawn by the heat, filling every space, changing the flavor of everything it touches. DeAndre, Walter Jr., Tamika — these are the people who showed up, who always show up, because showing up is what Johnsons do, and the showing up is the love, and the love is the showing up, and the cycle doesn't break because we don't let it break.

I cooked, as I cook for everything that matters. The smoker received the news the way it receives all news — with heat and patience, transforming raw ingredients into something that feeds and comforts and says, without words, that someone cares enough to spend hours tending a fire for you. Uncle Clyde's steel drum has held every Johnson milestone in its smoke — weddings and funerals and birthdays and ordinary Saturdays — and this week it held another one, and the holding was steady, and the smoke rose into the Memphis sky, and the sky received it the way the sky receives everything: openly, without judgment, with infinite capacity for what rises.

Rosetta was beside me through it all, as she has been for decades, the constant in every variable, the harmony beneath every melody. She said what needed saying and didn't say what didn't, and the balance between her words and her silence is the rhythm of our marriage, which is the rhythm of my life, which is the rhythm of the smoke: slow, steady, transformative, enduring.

A week like that one — DeAndre turning 11, the whole family gathered, the smoker running and the sky full of good smoke — deserves food that matches the energy: bold, bright, and worth every minute of the wait. These Easy Tequila Lime Chicken Kabobs carry that same fire we had going in the yard, the citrus and smoke working together the way family does when everybody shows up right. I put them on the grill right alongside everything else that day, and when DeAndre bit into his first one, he nodded the way a young man nods when something is exactly what it should be — and that nod meant more to me than he knows.

Easy Tequila Lime Chicken Kabobs

Prep Time: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour marinating) | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup tequila (blanco or reposado)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 tablespoon lime zest
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 red onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• Metal or wooden skewers (if wooden, soak 30 minutes in water)

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. In a large bowl or zip-top bag, whisk together the tequila, lime juice, lime zest, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper until fully combined.
2. Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken cubes to the marinade, toss well to coat, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Do not marinate longer or the lime juice will begin to break down the texture of the meat.
3. Prepare the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
4. Assemble the kabobs. Thread marinated chicken pieces onto skewers, alternating with red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and red onion chunks. Leave a small gap between each piece so everything cooks evenly.
5. Grill the kabobs. Place skewers on the hot grill and cook for 12—15 minutes total, turning every 3—4 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer and the vegetables have slight char marks.
6. Rest and serve. Remove kabobs from the grill and let rest for 3 minutes before serving. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and serve with rice, warm tortillas, or alongside your favorite cookout sides.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 290mg